By Shobha Diwakar

Once upon a time, there lived a king and a queen in the heart of the city surrounded by umpteen numbers of attendants as usually the kings are. They lived in comfort with nothing to worry for the morrow. At the same time there also lived in the corner of the town on the outskirts, a poor man Lakhan who earned his meagre wages as the guard or (chowkidar)  of a rich farmer who owned  lavish acres of farms with innumerable numbers of crops and fruit laden trees. Now Lakhan hailed from a humble, god- fearing family. He lost his father when not yet five with two elder brothers and a widowed mother whom to bring up her children struggled to make both ends meet. Since she was not educated, the only work she could do to fend her little off springs was to do menial jobs to feed her hungry mouths.

The king brought up in luxury was unaware as to how the poor lived. Every day he enjoyed a table laid up with the most delectable delicacies one could dream of and ladle his tongue with them. Bed- tea, breakfast, lunch, evening tea, and dinner were always a sight to behold. Imagine, how fate had bestowed its blessings on this young man who did nothing to earn his living while those like Lakhan  struggled to make both ends meet, lived in poverty.

Now this young king Rajnikant, was a handsome man. Women fell head over heels in love with his charming personality and sighed to hold his hand or touch him and feel as though they had felt the holy touch of a god born on earth to alter their destiny. Little did these foolish people realize that ‘Holy’ Rajnikant had never ever felt the pangs of hunger and was therefore quite unaware of the fact as to what it was to go to bed on an empty stomach.  Albeit the blessings so generously bestowed upon him by destiny Rajnikant the fanciful king of ‘Hearts,’  or better still, ‘Clubs’ was bestowed with wealth, he was in fact, a conceited, selfish man who had no respect for the weak or the humble. He was aware since he wielded power  and position  and  had a retinue of similar conceited followers who knew if they served this haughty king faithfully (or unfaithfully behind his back), they too could earn pots and pots of money by hook or by crook. You see, the trend to earn money through hard work is a gimmick. It can only be earned by loot, and farcical means.

The foolish public was led on a false trail. Whenever the haughty king moved around the city in his luxurious chariot, the people flocked like animals around him. It seemed as though the very gods had hailed down from heaven and they would never again witness such a glorious sight of him. The boastful king swelled and swelled and swelled until his ‘softened’ heart burst with unconquerable pride over the fact how people bowed and glorified him.  It was then that Rajnikant spied a humble man standing aloof without a jubilant smile on his face. He was taken aback. How come when the entire town was honoring His Highness, why was this nincompoop standing mute ignoring his presence?

Rajnikant was rattled at this sight. He ordered his gunmen to round up this arrogant man and bring him to court the next day but not before he had harshly belittled him by his arrogance. ‘You spider come here. Are you standing there knitting a web around me? You sniper get out of my sight. While all here are humbly bowing down before me, you are standing there staring without a courteous bow. Don’t you know that I am the KING of all I survey?’

The retinue of selfish followers turned their un- glittering eyes in the direction of the king. They were curious to see who this unmannered fellow was who had dared to annoy their otherwise good-natured, adorable lollipop of a king. All this while his ‘holy’ presence had instilled in all of them a ‘holy spirit’ that winged and fluttered their very breath un exhaustingly; but had rudely stirred them up like a disturbed beehive that had brazenly stifled their mesmerizing aura. Turning around they beheld an aged man staring away towards the wide, wide vacant heaven as if praying for some miracle to happen and drill some sense into the empty heads of those who were trapped in their vices and selfish pursuits. All those who were lucky to have been inducted were gravely and thoughtfully aware that if they happened to fall into the good books of the king they would be given an ‘honorable’ place in the majesty’s court. This would provide them an opportunity to earn as much as they could by hook or by crook, or by all other shady means since the marbled thoroughfare had alleys all around the palace some open, some covered to the human eye. Anyone who has studied history of the palaces of ancient rulers will be ‘discreetly’ aware of all these secret passages of the palace without anyone being the wiser.

Well the next day Lakhan was handcuffed and dragged to the king’s court, which was stuffed with ‘feathered’ councilors and the public. They waited eagerly to hear the fate of this rustic fellow who had refused to bow down before his majesty. People whispered ‘audibly,’ ‘how dare he ignore our king.’ ‘Did he think that he would get away with his arrogance?’ ‘Why didn’t he bow down before royalty just like all of us? If he had done so, today he would have been a free man like all of us.’ Suddenly there was a hush-hush as his majesty stepped in with graceful steps followed by his ever- devoted councilors  bowing their heads with civil obedience and all graceful civility in order not to upset their golden idol. They stood at attention and only be-seated themselves when their lordship had elegantly settled himself on his platinum throne.

All stirring of rustling, wrestling ‘wipers’ calmed down as the king announced why the court was opened to the public on this ‘occasion.’ Lakhan was then ordered to be dragged in with disrespect for all to behold as to what would be the outcome for those who dared to disobey the ‘chosen’ to rule king by God himself. The court began its proceedings. All eager eyes stared with daggers drawn at this arrogant man who had refused to bow down before royalty, (the chosen king by the almighty God himself). So the trial began. ‘What is your name?’  Began the ‘aged’ advisor of social affairs.

‘Lakhan,’ my lord.

‘Do you recognize this god sitting on the throne?’

‘Yes, I do,’ my lord.

‘Were you there when the godly king trailed along the town to greet and meet the people?

‘Yes,’ my lord.

‘Then, when everybody was rejoicing and greeting his lordship, the king, why did you ignore his  presence?’

All those that were present cocked up their heads and eyes meaningfully as if assuring one another now he’s had it.

Lakhan lifted up his head and stared boldly at the king who was seated snugly in his velvet cushioned chair and dared to say, ‘you see my so called lordship I am not a ‘viper.’ I am an honest, hardworking man who toils for the land and its people. I do not possess any luxuries I am a simple god-fearing farmer and a guard who guards the town’s gate and farms so that no outsider dares to enter and crush your- self- appointment as the King of this small unprogressive town, because the people innocently and foolishly accept you as their savior. False gods and their false councilors do not fool me because I am guided by morals and virtues instilled in me since childhood. No one has appointed me as guard but I appointed myself in this capacity being an honest god-fearing man to claim justice for the less fortunate; but I see that people are mesmerized by your charming ‘sham,’ which has blinded them for ulterior motives and bones thrown at them to gobble up since hard work is beyond their manhood. I stand here before you in a court full of foxes and wolves that are ready to grab any piece of meat you chuck slyly at them. I am not one of them. You can deliver your unjust, just judgment as I stand so arrogantly before you.’

Once again, all eyes unbelievingly stared, once at Lakhan, then at the advisor and finally rested on the King of Clubs. No one spoke. The mighty king was perplexed. He screwed up his eyes and glared at Lakhan and the councilor as if he would devour them up but noticing that all eyes were on him he pretended to scratch his head as though some bee had viciously stung him and raised himself from his honorable dais. All heads of state rushed to his rescue as he swooned in dismay at the arrogance of this ‘paltry’ guard who had… dared to snub him off in public. While the troupe of flatters rushed to his rescue fearing their ‘lollipop king’ would fall like ‘humpty dumpty’ and hurt himself, the crowd of people hailed their Lakhan for opening their eyes against the miscreants who dreamt of having their bread buttered on both sides.

Finally, the court was dismissed as the king had fallen sick and needed ample rest under the doctor’s strict orders while the people rejoiced and congratulated Lakhan for opening their eyes. They applauded him and hoped he would forever remain the guardsman of their town and prevent the barging in of those who dreamt of looting their prosperity. They now claimed he was their ‘shesh-nag’ sent upon earth to guard their town and their wealth.

 This s a work of fiction. Resemblance to any character living or dead is a mere coincidence   

About the Author: Dr. Shobha Diwakar lives in Jabalpur, India and retired as the head of English department at C.P. Mahila Mahavidhyalaya, Jabalpur. She has published many research papers, stories, poems and essays in national, international and online journals. She contributes regularly to writerslifeline and Indian Periodical. Dr Diwakar  servers on the Advisory Board of www.writerslifeline.ca.